One of the great things about Queen is also a major flaw of the band: they were a songwriting democracy and that led to both a greater diversity of sound and a lack of consistency.
Category: 1980
Real People (1980) by Chic
I’m definitely more receptive to Chic’s version of disco than I am to many others, I guess because sometimes it’s hard to tell whether they’re disco or funk. (And I, of course, prefer funk greatly to disco.)
Underwater Moonlight (1980) by The Soft Boys
The beginning of the first song got me excited. Then the rest of the album happened…
Uprising (1980) by Bob Marley and the Wailers
I am on record as stating that I think Peter Tosh’s departure from the Wailers was not good for the Wailers. Tosh is, to me, the better songwriter. (Shock! Horror!) Not melodically, necessarily. (Really, I should say “of course”. Who has more hits, Marley or Tosh?)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1978)
Full disclosure: I ended up not reading the novel. I polled some friends about what I should consume “first” and the verdict was that I should listen to the radio play first. So I listened. And then I listened to the Christmas episode, and then I listened to the “second season” (which, I believe, is …
I Just Can’t Stop It (1980) by The [English] Beat
Remember when 2 Tone was a really big deal?
diana (1980) by Diana Ross
Diana Ross’ biggest hit, which I really had no idea about. In part, I guess, because I didn’t know “I’m Coming Out” was her song. I knew it, but I didn’t know it was her. Teaming with the creative team behind Chic seems like a pretty inspired idea, at least from a commercial standpoint. Also, …
Joan Jett aka Bad Reputation (1980)
Joan Jett was pretty young when she made this record – only 19 or 20 – but it sounds like it was made by someone 10 years her senior. That’s often a compliment but it’s not here: like so many punk-adjacent albums of the late ’70s and early ’80s, this one is obsessed with the …
Freedom of Choice (1980) by Devo
As someone else put it: Devo have actually devolved – as they claim was happening to culture – only to produce their biggest hit. This contains “Whip It” – far and away their most famous song – and, as a result, the album was their biggest hit.
How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So kids Will Talk (1980, 2012)
Full disclosure: I have no children, I am not a teacher and I spent virtually no time around children. So I am not the book’s audience. Why did I read it? Because my father recommended it me for as a good tool for communicating better.
Seventeen Seconds (1980) by The Cure
I can’t actually recall if I’ve ever listened to Three Imaginary Boys. I don’t think I have but I can also imagine listening to it once and deciding there was no point to include it, given its reputation. I have listed to Faith on the other hand and I did not enjoy it when I …
Empty Glass (1980) by Pete Townshend
The story goes that Townshend was writing songs for both this album and the subsequent Who album and Daltrey at least feels like Townshend kept most of the good material for himself and gave the band the less good stuff. (I should point out I’ve never bothered with Face Dances because one thing I don’t …
Women and Children First (1980) by Van Halen
I listen to this record and I don’t remember it a few hours, maybe even minutes later. The first time I listened to I wasn’t even sure I listened to it a couple of hours later, I had to look at the track listing to confirm. What I’m saying is that this record doesn’t have …
Half-Mute (1980) by Tuxedomoon
With the first track I thought this was going to get really out there, like a (much) more ambient version of Swell Maps or This Heat but with saxophone.
Glass Houses (1980) by Billy Joel
I read somewhere that this is supposed to be Joel’s “punk” album, not in that it sounds like punk that it is his response. I think that comes from a way too deep reading of the lyrics to “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”, and if it is indeed his response to these trends …
The Psychedelic Furs (1980)
One has to think that the band name is a jab at old people, whether or not you want to categorize this music as neo-psychedelia. (And people categorize it as such? I find that very strange. Like, how?) Anyone who was really into psychedelic music in the late ’60s would have been pretty put out …
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1980)
As I listen to evermore synthpop my dislike of the genre is falling away, as I realize that there are songwriters hiding behind the synthesizers, and electronic bass and drums, and the more I discover this, the more I like some of these bands. OMD are one of the innumerable ’80s British bands who were …
Get Happy!! (1980) by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
I don’t know Costello’s career as well as perhaps I should, given his sheer volume and his reputation as perhaps (British) New Wave’s preeminent songwriter. But I feel like I know it well enough to mark this as the first record when he began his genre-driving. It’s not as drastic as a departure as some …
Sugarhill Gang (1980)
I know just about zilch about the history hip hop which means I know nothing about the history of record labels and producers thinking they know better how to market the genre of hip hop. But I know a fair amount about how they did that to other genres which, I hope, gives me some …
Un peu de l’âme des bandits (1980) by Aqsak Maboul
Somehow, despite being familiar with the work of two of the guests on this record, and having listened to at least a couple Rock in Opposition albums, I had never heard of this band before. How is that possible?
Metamatic (1980) by John Foxx
I know nothing of Ultravox, Foxx’s former band, and have no idea if this chilly, austere “synthpop” record is a major change of pace for the former Ultravox lead singer. So I don’t know how much of a departure this record really is.
Pretenders (1980)
I avoided the Pretenders for so long for two reasons: when I was young, nothing about their hits appealed to me – nothing really grabbed me and told me I needed to listen to their records – but also Hynde did an interview for a documentary I watched about the New York Dolls which I …
The Age of Plastic (1980) by Buggles
This band and this record are known for one thing, their highly symbolic if not quite prophetic hit “Video Killed the Radio Star”. Funnily enough it had already been released by a former band member but we don’t know that version because there are no female backing vocals. Well, guess what? The rest of this …
The Changeling (1980, Peter Medak)
This is an atmospheric but dated haunted house film, which features some decent moments but not enough chills or scares to truly recommend it. SPOILERS
New Year’s Evil (1980, Emmett Alston)
I live tweet this one, though I didn’t do a very good job. I was kind of hoping more people would be doing the same, but only 5 people were into it, it seems. Anyway: as far as I know, this is the only New Year’s Eve horror film. It was the only one we …
From the House of the Dead (1980) by Leos Janacek, performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsopernchor conducted by Charles Mackerras featuring Jiri Zahradnicek, Ivo Zidek, Vaclav Zitek
This disc pairs Janacek’s last (and shortest?) opera with two unrelated chamber pieces performed by an entirely different orchestra, grumble.
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
In 1980, there was no real way for for North American audiences to digest non-English language television. So, on occasions when multiple-episode television programs made there way over to North America, they were screened at film festivals as “films.” A number of European “art house” films from the ’70s and ’80s are actually made-for-tv miniseries. …
Holst: A Winter Idyll (1993) by David Atherton et al.
This is a collection of short orchestral pieces and excerpts of longer ones, by Holst. It is not performed by the same group throughout (as it’s a compilation) though, as far as I can tell (listening to a digital copy), the conductor is the same throughout (David Atherton).
Emotional Rescue (1980) by the Rolling Stones
I don’t know what to do with my first impressions. I’ve learned to distrust them. I give every album I review a minimum of three listens in order to defeat my initial prejudice. I adopted this approach, I think, because I wanted to be fair, but also because sometimes my initial impression did not jive …
Peter Gabriel [Melt] (1980)
On December 31, 2008, I wrote the following: This may sound stupid, but this sounds little too much like 1980. They had a good thing going, those Genesis guys… and while I know that version of the band could never have topped The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, neither Gabriel nor the rest of the …